A MEMORIAL OF CZECHOSLOVAK SOLDIERS IN SCOTLAND

PAY OFF THE DEBT WE OWE TO OUR HEROES

A Czech-Scottish Charity will build a memorial in Arisaig to hundreds of Czechoslovak soldiers who were trained at the Special Operations Executive’s Schools during the Second World War, and in daring actions in occupied territory, behind enemy lines, and on battlefields, they rendered an oustanding service to not only the liberation of their country but also to the freedom of other nations.

Many paid for this with their own lives.

The Memorial will not only remind us of their bravery but will also serve as a sacred place and a war grave to those laid to their eternal rest in places known unto God.

A collection is organised

In the Czech Republic: Association for the Construction of a Memorial of Czech and Slovak Soldiers in Scotland, o.s., reg. No. IČO 26554691, account number 77 66 11 22/0800, account name Czech Memorial .

In the United Kingdom by a charity at the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Edinburgh, and registered in Scotland under the name

The unveiling of the Czech Memorial was endorsed by, among others, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence of the Czech Republic, historians, civic associations and charities, politicians from both countries, artistic personalities, citizens and councils from birth places of parachutists, and many individual supporters. The charity was extremely honoured by receiving an endorsement from HRH The Princess Royal.

The Trustees are delighted to report that the main Memorial was unveiled, as planned, in Arisaig on the Remembrance Day, 11.11.2009, the second phase, memorial stones bearing names of the fallen and the list of missions, was dedicated on 14 November 2010, that the third phase, laying granite tiles on the concrete foundation of the main memorial, was completed in summer 2011, and that the fourth phase, placing a boulder bearing information about the Memorial was finished in September 2011.

The Committee wishes to intimate to all friends and supporters of the project that the sculptor Josef Vajce has died suddenly in the peace of his home near Prague exactly on the day we finished setting the last bouder next to his sculpture of the Memorial. Josef was buried in his birthplace, Velhartice, on 24 September 2011.